Jackie Cahill
Question:167. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers and non-farmers participating in planting schemes under the forest programme 2014 to 2020. [44127/17]
View answerWednesday, 18 October 2017
Questions (167)
Written answers
My Department publishes annual afforestation statistics which are available on its website. Those statistics include numbers of farmers and non-farmers who participate in afforestation each year. Those numbers are set out in the following table, for 2014 to 2016, which are the most recent available figures.
It should be noted that the non-farmer category is primarily made up of recently retired farmers or the family members of the landowner in question. On that basis I am satisfied that the vast bulk of the investment under the programme is delivered to, and remains in, rural Ireland.
|
Year |
Farmer |
Non-Farmer |
|
2014 |
950 |
49 |
|
2015 |
852 |
130 |
|
2016 |
652 |
357 |